I am new to ant keeping and was wondering which species of ant I should start with. Please tell me about a type of ant that is easy to care for, can grow their colonies fast, don't sting, and can be found near the bottom of California. It's fine if there isn't a perfect species, just tell me the best that you think.

I am new to ant keeping and was wondering which species of ant I should start with. Please tell me about a type of ant that is easy to care for, can grow their colonies fast, don't sting, and can be found near the bottom of California. It's fine if there isn't a perfect species, just tell me the best that you think.

We kind of take what we get in the world of ant keeping. Unless, of course you are buying from the gan project, we generally just keep whatever we find. However, Here are some species that I know to be good beginner species:
Lasius
pros: Easy, do not sting or dig in walls,
Cons: Lasius Neoniger does not lay eggs until after hibernation, but other species of lasius grow faster. Also pretty small and not the best for viewing.

Tetramorium
pros: easy, do not sting or dig in walls, very fast growing, very active
cons: Can be a bit of escape artists, although I have found it very easy to contain them with dry baby powder dabbed on with a cotton ball.Also small

Camponotus
pros: Great for viewing because of their large size, easy to keep and contain
cons: very slow growing, don't sting, but can bite

Proverbs 6:6-8

Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.

I am new to ant keeping and was wondering which species of ant I should start with. Please tell me about a type of ant that is easy to care for, can grow their colonies fast, don't sting, and can be found near the bottom of California. It's fine if there isn't a perfect species, just tell me the best that you think.

We kind of take what we get in the world of ant keeping. Unless, of course you are buying from the gan project, we generally just keep whatever we find. However, Here are some species that I know to be good beginner species:
Lasius
pros: Easy, do not sting or dig in walls,
Cons: Lasius Neoniger does not lay eggs until after hibernation, but other species of lasius grow faster. Also pretty small and not the best for viewing.

Tetramorium
pros: easy, do not sting or dig in walls, very fast growing, very active
cons: Can be a bit of escape artists, although I have found it very easy to contain them with dry baby powder dabbed on with a cotton ball.Also small

Camponotus
pros: Great for viewing because of their large size, easy to keep and contain
cons: very slow growing, don't sting, but can bite

Formica are very easy to keep as well (if you don't mind the painful bite and formic acid spray). Their colonies don't get quite as large as Camponotus or Tetramorium, but their queens lay fairly large amounts of eggs. Also, they are polygynous (meaning they can accept many queens into their colonies) so they can grow faster with multiple queens. I once had a 6 queen colony of Formica argentea, and they unfortunately died. 2 very common Formica species in California (and the United States) are Formica fusca, and Formica argentea.

"God made every kind of wild beasts and every kind of livestock and every kind of creeping things;" (including ants) "and God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:25